Followup from this
EVO CRASHED AFTER IT WOULD NOT LAND!!!
I did not know there was a dedicated forum here. Is this officially Autel as well?
I have a message to give to all autel engineers and probably any brave owners as well.
I think I figured out why that happened. It wouldn't even land with low battery. The key lies in the CABLES. The cables inside are FAR TOO BRITTLE! they snap VERY EASILY under stress! This is an UNACCEPTABLE DESIGN FLAW! I hope this is fixed in the
EVO 2.
For reference, I figured this out after I had to disassemble my second Autel EVO (not an easy task. Not at all. The screws are glued in and took a considerable amount of force to twist open. There is a hidden screw under the Autel panel in the front which must be removed which I learned the hard way.) So, after the first one crashed mysteriously (the one in the link above, and I returned it to Amazon but they lost the return, long story) I no longer trusted brand new EVOs. But I wasn't in the mood to hack a DJI drone. (Really only buying the EVO since it puts control back in the users hands. Sometimes I need to fly close to but not over a no fly zone.) So I got a used EVO. I needed a drone on short notice for... reasons.
Anyways, during a mission a few nights ago, the battery drained EXTREMELY quickly after the signal failed and I was worried it would crash since it was carrying a ..... payload.... but luckily the string cut through the duct tape and the payload fell somewhere before it initiated an emergency landing due to critical battery.
So this used drone lands inside .. .shall we say hostile terrain. A highly secured area with fences that you need a code to get into. Blegh. And to make matters worse, they were closed for the night. And it rained endlessly sometime throughout the night. Needless to say I was very lucky to get the drone back and in one piece. (I was even luckier that the payload was missing and not there when they picked it up otherwise... well thats not important. They woulda asked some weird questions and yeah that would've sucked.) Anyways I thought I dried it out, or thought I did, and powered it on for a check. The camera feed took longer than usual to show which was worrying. I update the firmware since I feared the same bug that happened to my first EVO would happen again to this one and I had a mission for it as well. Lots of missions... lots of.. payloads... to drop.
Anyways the firmware fails to update and then suddenly the camera feed is completely FUBAR. I try snapping a photo and it suddenly says no SD card. I thoguht DAMN! Theres water damage to the lower board! We must disassemble this and try to dry it out. I manage to get the bottom panel out but.. nothing. Bone dry. But somehow theres steam building up on the downward camera lens. Weird, eh? How does the water get in that far???? I figure the main board is busted so I start the process of disconnecting the cables to pry the main board off.
SO!!!
As I'm prying the glue off, the cable somehow snags on and SNAPS!!!! I SNAPPED a cable that went from the main computer board to the power flight controller board or whatever. SERIOUSLY, AUTEL? THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE SEEN CABLES THIS WEAK!
So as to what happened to the first drone it's becoming very clear now. The ribbon cables are TOO BRITTLE! THEY SNAP TOO EASILY! AT THE SLIGHTEST TOUCH!!! The antennas and receiver is on the main board. The main board is connected to the flight controller via some WEAK AF RIBBON CABLES. If any of em snap from the tension of being bent somehow, then the drone will stop responding PERIOD to ALL CONTROLS from the controller. The failsafes will most likely fail too.
I am DISAPPOINTED, AUTEL! And yes I disassembled mine, because it's faster for me to order scrap parts from ebay and fix it myself than to send it in for repairs. And it was second hand, soooooo bye bye warranty. I truly see how fragile this drone is on the inside. Couldn''t you guys have designed a ventilation system that protects against a rainstorm?
What if it lands somewhere inaccessible because the battery is GARBAGE and a mere 400g payload makes the EVO eat batteries like crazy and drain power in 8 minutes?
And most importantly, HOW CAN YOU BE SURE YOUR WORKERS DON'T MESS UP WHE NASSEMBLING THEM? WHY ARE THE RIBBON CABLES SO FUCKIN WEAK?!!!! Brittle ribbon cables + being bent for long periods of time inside the chassis = suddenly drone stops responding and you think the Feds hacked your drone because... well thats not important. SERIOUSLY THE WHOLE TIME! Im going to reinforce the cables with cellophane tape or something! this is ridiculous! A single cable!!!! made my first drone crash! Because it wouldn't respond to commands anymore or do failsafe landing! Not that it matters because the stupid positioning of the sensors means theres nowhere for a payload to go without obstructing the sensors and.. lets just say you don't want the payload to hit the ground near the drone <_<. Thats all Imma say about that. (Im lucky the first drone didnt turn into a gooey melted mess of plastic and metal tbh. Ill leave it at that. )
CMON AUTEL! IF YOU WANT TO COMPETE AGAINST DJI MAKE YOURS CLOSER TO MILITARY GRADE!
I seriously hope the
EVO 2 uses starlight sensors to see in the dark for obstacle avoidance. We all know you CAN make a drone that flies in the dark. It's just nobody has the balls to because of the scary government <_<.
